“FUCK! How did we get snowed in!? Look, no offense, I know you’re at least partially responsible for saving my life, not that I WANTED it saved, but being stuck inside with you is, like, my worst nightmare!” He kicked the door angrily.
Complimentary Trent is how…..
He hadn't said that, of course he hadn't said that in that moment. But it was definitely a thought. He could have been back home nestled down and simply waiting the ice storm out but NO! No these idiots had to be dramatic and take off like this was the end of the fucking world and not just another storm! Now it sure fucking was! The end of the world that is. As Sebastian had woken up in the passenger seat and gone making commentary about what was going on around them Erryk just sat there. Elbow on the window and eyes staring off through the half snow covered windshield as he rubbed his temples his temple with his hand for a moment.
It was nearly four A.M, and dark. Snow was coming down thick and from what little he could see in the blackness and what he'd seen in the headlights before he'd turned the truck off for a moment they were surrounded by thick forest on either side if the road. Should have just stopped for the chains, should have told Trent no. Should have listened to Arryk’s angry warning and calling him stupid for taking this route with the blizzard full blown heading straight at them. "We're snowed in because it snowed" Erryk stated in a bland tone finally like that was the most obvious thing in the world. He'd attempted to get unstuck and back up now a total of thirty times and counting but the damn Truck wouldn't budge. That and he had been counting on a gas station another hour up the road. To much more fuel and even if they got unstuck they weren't going to make it so he'd been basically sitting there contemplating on his own stupidity now for a good fifteen minutes before Sebastian had come to and started in.
Great, headache….. reaching for the cigarette box in the console he moved to pull one out and placed it between his lips sparking it up.
"Well why the FUCK is it snowing in Santa Cruz, pal? Since you clearly know everything, answer me that, why don't you?" Sebastian's tone was far more aggressive than it had been for... quite some time, actually. Maybe he'd snapped at Trent like this once or twice when they were teens.
"Oh. Great. You're gonna smoke. We're trapped in a car with limited oxygen and YOU have to have a smoke." He paused, then pulled out a pack of cloves. "Actually, why don't you light me one, too?"
Oh my god could this mother fucker BITCH!!!! Again it crossed his mind but all Sebastian got was a glare. Also the idiot seemed to have forgotten they'd left home hours ago; this wasn't Kansas anymore DORTHY. Rain surely was pummelling the coast by now but they'd were heading UP! In attempts to get to the other side of both storms by meeting up with Daemon and Trent up in Oregon. However as it was they were currently in the mountains getting a nice mixture of the blizzard and the hurricane which were essentially full-blown colliding.
He didn't respond still, instead merely moved to toss the pack into Sebastian's lap before heaving a sigh. Then moving to pull his hoodie up he soon moved to open the door climbing out into the darkness and freezing cold. Before closing the door he reached under the seat and grabbed a flashlight then finally he shut the door and moved to take a few steps his back to the wind now to black the blowing snow and freezing rain. Hand around the burning cigarette to keep it lit he took a drag and moved to flick on the flashlight. Time to see exactly how stuck they were..... And it was about that time he noticed he'd managed to slide them dangerously close to the damn ditch. If Sebastian opening his door he'd have to be careful not to go rolling down into it. Tired in deep and a bit of a decent sized branch no.... Log wedged under one tired. At least from what he could see. He felt like a grade A idiot right about now... This was amateur shit! Well maybe if he'd been able to see better which was damn near impossible right now.
Sebastian looked down at the pack, frowning. He already had his cloves. He picked the pack Erryk had tossed him and dropped it disdainfully onto the dash. He searched the glove box for a matchbook. There was one with two matches left. Thank goodness. He sparked one up and lit his clove with it, inhaling with a sense of relief.
He looked out at what Erryk was doing. Surveying their surroundings, most likely. Well, good for him. Sebastian couldn't care less. California, Oregon, it didn't matter to him where he was. He was stuck with this insufferable bastard and far away from the arms of... well, anyone, really. The fact that the thought of flirting with Erryk hadn't even crossed his mind was a testament to how sullen he was.
Jesus Christ even he could only take so much of the cold wind and snow. By the time he was climbing back it his backside was soaked and his skin looked red enough to be mistaken for a sun burn. Moving to flip his hood down he was soon unzipping it and pulling it off revealing an arm covered in tattoos.... one of few distinguishing marks between himself and his older twin. Then reaching to again turn the truck on he then moved to turn the heater up. Give them a bit longer with some actual warmth but he was going to have to be VERY sparing with it for a while. "Yeah we're not going anywhere .... Sorry to shit on your lovely weekend with Trent and Daemon in a hotel" He smarted before moving to reach back into the back for one of the blankets he'd brought. Yeah at least he'd thought to pack.... A few things in preparation for the worst-case scenario. So there was that. He had snacks and an ice chest of beer, sandwich fixings and water bottles. Three blankets, an extra jacket in the back. The shot gun in the rack on the back window, his handgun the console and a hunting knife. They'd be fine, hopefully. Given this storm didn't last..... Longer then maybe ... A day?
Settling down in the seat again he moved the blanket over his front and sat back sort of staring at the front window again for a moment.
"Don't make it sound dirty," Sebastian grumbled. "I have no interest in being in a hotel room with those two, especially knowing some of the things Trent...." He trailed off and took a drag. "I'm also not interested in Daemon, as you know," he muttered. Daemon looked okay in an aesthetic sense, but aside from his beautiful violet eyes, there wasn't anything remarkable about him. "But more importantly," he said, gentling his tone a bit, "it's not your fault. You don't control the weather."
"It's called sarcasm...." Erryk muttered under his breath. For a moment just sitting there chewing his inner lip a bit in frustration. However hearing Sebastian's last comment he sort of snickered. "You don't know that. Maybe I'm secretly jack frost and I brought you out here to feed you to my ice babies" He mused waggling his eyebrows at the other a bit goofy like. "Pretty sure I actually saw a horror movie Ike that once.... Or maybe it was a dream... No actually I've no idea where that came from" He added with a bit of a shrug.
Sebastian couldn't help but laugh. "Jack Frost, more like Jack Off," he said, getting the low-hanging fruit out of the way with that lame joke. "Not that we could. As my sort-of-foster dad would say, 'It's too fucking cold for fucking.' But you should probably stop drinking right before bed." He rolled over onto his side, watching Erryk as best he could with the sparse moonlight. "Have you had any? Babies. Not made of ice." The question tumbled out of him before he could filter his thoughts.
"Oh ouch.... I'm wounded" Erryk replied a bit mellow dramatically before slightly chuckling again. Yeah he didn't have much of a come back to that one. Then again when it came to actually being insulting or annoying his brother definitely had him beat. Hearing the others question though had him pausing for a moment before raising an eyebrow. "No, not a one. My brain ex couldn't get pregnant apparently and besides that? Yeah I can safely say I doubt there's any out there I don't know about" he replied with a shrug. Yeah he'd been with one person, like ever.... Probably the weirdest thing the other was likely to hear from anyone in his group but he just hadn't ever had the time or care to go after anyone else since her. "You?" He asked eyes glancing over to the other again briefly.
Sebastian nodded with a pained swallow. "Yeah. His mother left after he was born," he said, his voice cracking. He took a breath and continued, "I don't think it bothered him. He was raised by.... I had a lot of help," Sebastian hedged. "He has an open-book personality, so if he had any angst, I'd like to think I'd know. I like that for him, that he doesn't suffer because she...." He swallowed again, staring up at the ceiling of the car. "I don't want him to suffer. I don't want him to see me suffer. We don't talk about her, and he's not allowed to date until he's eighteen, which won't be long now. I just don't want him making the same mistake I did, you know, falling in love with someone as a teen and having them just completely shred whatever remnants of selfー self-worth.... God, I'm sorry. Ignore that. You asked about him, not my fucking issues." Sebastian wiped his eyes impatiently with the sleeve of his longcoat, took a breath, and tried again. "Sorry. No, he's a great kid. Smart, athletic, won both academic and athletic scholarships, though we're choosing to pay for school ourselves. Let the kids who actually need help have the grants. He's got my love of cars, clothes, and the arts; coupled with Trent's sunny disposition." Sebastian looked over at Erryk. "Most importantly, he's unfailingly kind," he murmured. "You don't see that a lot nowadays. I'd be genuinely shocked if he had a mean bone in his body. Trent isn't even that nice. Hell, Trent's mom isn't even that nice, and she's basically perfect."
Sebastian faced the ceiling again as he went off on another tangent. "Everyone loves Mrs. Maddock. Except her husband and sister, apparently. They ran off together when we were... what, eight? Nine? I never understood it. Mrs. Maddock is kind, loving, and patient. Ms. Bowles is mean. I remember, she looked my kid right in the eye and called him a 'pansy, just like his father'." He shook his head. "I don't understand why she got a forever person and her sister and I.... Maybe it's because Ms. Bowles and Mr. Maddock are both trash," he mused spitefully. "Maybe that's the lesson. Maybe first love is like the first pancake. Sometimes it turns out fine, but most of the time you've got to toss it out and hope for better."
He scowled. "Even if your next few tries are inedible garbage," he muttered. "Well... maybe that's harsh." He knew he was rambling, but talking helped him forget the cold, and the fact that there was apparently only one blanket and, scrawny as he'd become, Sebastian wasn't about to try to crawl on top of Erryk and share it. He'd be chilled to the bone before long, but he'd die before having to explain that. Erryk would either listen to this fucking monologue or tune out, but either way, talking kept blood circulating and staved off the cold, if only slightly.
"Trent and I shared a girl in college. He was so infatuated with her. I was the one to approach her, and she dated both of us. Separately at first, then we had this bizarre meeting where she confessed that she'd been seeing both of us and we told her we already knew. Things were pretty okay, I guess. Trent was happy. I wasn't completely miserable anymore. Then she reconnected with her ex from high school and we parted with her on... reasonably good terms. At least after that, Trent was able to understand me better." Sebastian gave a short, bitter laugh. "Then Trent and I started seriously dating. I loved him with... as much of my heart as I could give him. Then one day, not too long agoー actually, it must have been just after our son went off to collegeー he said it was a good thing our son hadn't inherited anything from me besides my looks." He swallowed again. "I kicked him the fuck out. For all I know, he could have been joking. Next thing I know, he's with some other guy. So much for that."
Sebastian crawled over into the back seat and tried to see if it could flatten out. Even if it couldn't, it would be warmer than staying up front. Maybe.
"I know no-one believes me," he said, "but I really do like him. Aemond. I no longer remember anything about our time together except that waking up with him in my arms was the best I'd ever felt, and then him pulling away to be sick was... Maybe not the worst, but the sudden mood whiplash made it feel like that. I thought if I could just keep him with me, just a little bit longer.... Looking back, I was selfish and unkind. I don't deserve that radiance in my life. I don't deserve anyーanything. But his eye shape, it's similar to hers. Rosette's. And they both have such straight, silky hair that shines when it catches the light just right. Something got all twisted, up in my head." He gave up trying to move the backseat and just curled up into a ball. "I hear he's very nice," he said wistfully. "It's not my place to find out, though. I know that. Hell, he's almost young enough to be.... Well, he's a couple years older, anyway."
Sebastian grimaced. "Hey, do you mind helping me out here? Don't get the wrong idea, but if this does fold back, maybe we could share that blanket of yours and both be warmer for it. Don't worry, I'm really not gonna try anything. Not like I could; I haven't eaten in weeks. I don't think I really need to, actually," he said ponderously. "I mean, I don't get hungry. I used to just eat when Trent ate, and then after we broke up, I'd hang out with friends who reminded me that food exists, but then after... when I moved in with Nathaniel," he said carefully, "I didn't want food anymore. It just seemed like it would be wasted on me. He made me eat, though. Bribed me." Sebastian chuckled wryly. "Until George basically kicked me out, but at least he was nice enough to put a meal timer on my phone. Then after I uh.... After my house burned down, I just didn't think about it anymore."
That brought Sebastian to something he'd been wanting to ask Erryk. "Aegon was ready to let my ass burn. Why didn't you?" His tone wasn't as aggressive or accusatory as it had been earlier; he was genuinely curious. "I've been a thorn in your side since the moment we met. Why would you, uh... Why would you bother yourself?"
"Well.... I do have time for both" Erryk replied honestly as Sebastian had mentioned he was starting to get into his own shit. He briefly glanced out at the snow before moving to kill the engine again. Best not to let it be on much longer or if they really needed it this have finally ran the gas down. Who knew how long they'd be here this shit looked .... Well bad would have been an understatement.
"Yeah... Well, no one's that perfect. We all have some kind of baggage" He remarked bluntly at the others comment about Trent's mom.
He fell silent again merely listening again as Sebastian went on about Trent's parents and it made him glad his own mother had never remarried. Which may have been a bit selfish but it saved them from having to guard her from any pieces of shit at least for long. She had dated but well he was convinced she'd eventually given up once she'd realized she had such a bad mental disorder. Schizophrenia to be exact...
"Little harsh yeah ... But I agree.... First love dies hard, no matter the reason" He replied with a bit of a sigh. He wasn't sure what could have happened if his was still alive but, well a lot changes from high school to adulthood. Maybe they'd have just hated each other. Or maybe she'd have disagreed with what he and his brother did to keep their mother comfortable in a nursing home. What they'd started just to pay for her medication.
For a moment he had tuned out, briefly eyeing the window but he was back by the Sebastian and Trent part. That definitely explained why Trent still cared so much. And why Daemon had been so completely angry over it... Damn so he'd booted Trent just to have Trent end up with Daemon? Harsh ..
OH GOD HERE HE WENT! Erryk was glad the other was now in the back seat because he rather immediately rolled his eyes at hearing Aemond’s name brought up. That shit was level thousand ridiculous. However hearing Sebastian's reasoning his expression did sort of go a bit thoughtful for a moment at this point staring out at the snow as the other spoke. That made a lot of sense.
Hearing him about the seat Erryk finally looked back. He had a point .... Less they both wake up in the night freezing. Which also wasn't good just due to the fact if hypothermia set in moving wasn't exactly easy. You just got tired. "Actually have something for that, get back up here I'll fix it in a second" He added nodding for Sebastian to get back up front. Letting the other continue for a moment he moved to grab his backpack from the back now, pulling out a warm cotton long sleeve he moved to pull it on before glancing to Sebastian. "Here .... Put this on to.... It's clean" He added hand moving to give the other the long sleeve he had in his hand that was similar but instead of green like his it was blue.
However mid handing Sebastian the warmer shirt he looked up raising an eyebrow. "Because I'm not a selfish prick like Aegon .. Trent really likes you, that's obvious. And frankly just because you have issues doesn't make your life any less important than anyone else's. Even if your issues have bled all over us. You need help.... Not a bullet to the skull" He replied rather bluntly before moving to pull on the hoodie he'd soaked once already. Better than getting something new soaked right?
Sebastian wondered what Erryk's baggage could possibly be. He seemed well-adjusted enough. He had steady work with Daemon, at least.
It seemed like Erryk understood him, though, and he relaxed a little. Maybe Erryk was a real person after all, not just a lap dog or chess piece for the Targaryens.
Sebastian nodded and crawled back up to the front. He accepted the shirt with a faint smile, briefly shrugged off his longcoat, put the shirt on over his black turtle and black-and-maroon diamond-patterned sweater vest combo, and pulled his coat back on.
Sebastian shook his head. "Aegon's... not that bad," he said. "He made some valid points. Trent and I grew up together; he likes me out of habit more than anything. If something happened to me, life would go on. After a fashion, maybe."
He had to blink back tears again at Erryk's next words. He was about to disagree, but here Erryk was handing him extra clothes and moving the back seat down to maybe save both their lives. It would have been counterproductive to argue, so he stopped.
He did say, "Help hasn't helped. The uh, recovery center kicked me out when my stay exceeded what insurance would pay for. I could afford it myself, but I refused to pay out of principle. If they're going to be that cold, they're in no fit state to help anyone in my position. They're also fucking useless. Grief counselling is bullshit. Shiny happy coping skills are bullshit. I had a perfectly GOOD coping skill, thank you very much, and it went up in flames. Literally." He scoffed. "Of course, that was my own oversight. I should have locked them in a vault like I did with Trent's and Rosie's."
"Yeah, maybe" Erryk replied deciding that part he wasn't going to touch with a ten-foot pole. He and his brother had been responsible for burning the actual paintings and honestly he wouldn't take that part back. Fuck a coping skill that caused harm to other people and frankly it definitely wasn't helping Sebastian it was as bad as someone shooting up heroin really. Moving to finally climb out again he briefly left it at that, handed the blanket off to Sebastian for the moment then he went for the back tarped part of his truck. He was perhaps gone five minutes or so before he moved to open the back door and start working on setting up the back seat blow mattress he'd had from long trips and camping. Thing was definitely a life saver in situations like this.
By the time he was done again he could hardly feel his damn hands or face and he was soaked damn near completely. Climbing back into the front seat again once everything was moved around and situated he down his hood again head briefly going to his arm and the steering wheel both tired and cold at this point. Fuck this was absolute trash!
Sitting back he again pulled off the wet hoodie, as well as the shirt that now also had to dry. He'd been out there so long even his pants were soaked. "Go ahead I'll be back in a moment" he added nodding back for the mattress as he stopped to briefly rub his hands together and blow on them, still definitely shivering from being cold and wet.
Sebastian frowned. He hadn't realized Erryk would have to leave the car to get everything set up. He took off his jacket and the shirt Erryk had given him, and handed them to Erryk before obediently climbing in back and curling up under the blanket.
Up front Erryk managed to strip down to, well nothing and then pulled on a pair of dry sweats from his backpack and well as a dry long sleeve. Then tossing the wet stuff on the dash he was soon grabbing his cell, and the Glock and moving to crawl into the back seat. "Scoot..." He mused nudging Sebastian as he moved to lay down beside him pulling at a piece of the blanket. At least he'd packed a decently warm one. Moving to check his phone for a moment as he lay on back against the other he wasn't shocked to see only one bar. Worth a shot, he managed to send Arryk a text that definitely seemed to be taking forever to actually send and finally he moved to simply tuck drop the phone within reach close by.
Sebastian shrugged and put back on the stuff he'd taken off, since Erryk seemed to have his own supply of clothes. When he had noticed the other stripping, he turned onto his side and faced the window instead. He reached into his own pocket and took out his phone. His service wasn't quite as bad at two bars, but he didn't have any calls, texts, or really any notifications at all. He started to send a text to Nathaniel explaining the situation, but then thought better of it and just powered down his phone. Who knew how long they'd be stuck here, and he might need to use it for... something... later.
He moved closer to Erryk, seeking warmth. "Well, I went on a long-ass rant," he said. "Your turn. If you want to, that is."
"Yeah you kinda did" Erryk replied with a small smirk. Feeling the other scooting closer he moved his arm up and behind the other head. Fuck the awkward part of this shit, with how cold it was likely to get in here he didn't doubt one of them was likely to end up waking up damn near clinging or clung to by morning. "Well don't sweat it, rantings not really my thing. Much better at listening to them and offering terrible advice" he joked with a bit of chuckle as he let his eyes drift shut tiredly. Not like it mattered anyway, it was officially so dark you could hardly see the damn shadows or the snow and sleet pounding mercilessly at the windows.
"At least you're honest about it," Sebastian said. "Hey.... Thank you, for being kind. I may not have wanted my life saved, but the way you've been tonight makes up for it." He nestled closer, never really one to care that much about just casually snuggling up with someone, be they a lover, friend, or enemy. Even if he had cared, the cold would have wiped that right out. He closed his eyes and drifted off, too.
Well Sebastian probably beat Erryk to actual sleep. Considering the other was a mixture of tense and stressed. He definitely hadn't been tired just pissed and really he'd only laid down because what else was there and he was cold and so was Sebastian so there he was laying there for a hot minute thoughts just an actual racing mess. You know those moments of everything from why the hell was he even in this situation to begin with? To the fact that anniversary of his DEAD GIRLFRIENDs actual passing was coming up. If you went back in time and fucked yourself was that gay or just masturbation? Was the stove still on? Should he have at least called their mom to make sure they'd made it to the resort ok?
By the time he was waking up again he couldn't even remember going to sleep in the first place. The main reason he was even waking up was some of the blanket had slipped back and he was actually shivering a good bit. However long it had been the air had gotten COLD and as it was the storm had well not died down but the sleet had slowed. Snow instead seemed to be flurrying just outside. Moving to start and push up he suddenly stopped feeling a sudden heavy thud behind them against the truck bed. Brow furrowing a bit he'd listened for a moment and immediately internally screaming at hearing the growling just outside. Oh and then it felt like the thing was climbing on the edge of the truck bed. Where had he put the damn shot gun....
Moving up slowly so he was on his knees looking through the back he soon reached over Sebastian's sleeping form to get the rather good-sized gun off the rack on the window.
Sebastian was having nightmares of being chased by DARKNESS while chasing after LI~IGHT! Then there was something snarling and he was falling down into an abyss, down, down, down until suddenly, he jolted awake. He jumped slightly, staring straight ahead, then rolled onto his back.
"What...?" he whispered. Apparently the growling hadn't just been in his dream. "Is it bears?"
"I mean, definitely doesn't sound like coyotes does it?" Erryk replied slowly sitting back and moving to cock the rifle. Once that was done he moved to slide over to the door. "Scoot back... Bout to get cold for a sec" he muttered moved to reach for the door handle as he glanced back at Sebastian.
'Why would it sound like smugglers?' was Sebastian's first muzzy thought. He didn't ask, though. Best not to test Erryk's patience too much. He scooted back as told, burrowing beneath the blanket as best he could
Moving to crack the door a bit Erryk squinted before whistling a bit loudly. He could at least see the shadows enough to judge it looked like two black bears. Moving to lift the gun he aimed at the ground near their feet and fired. Not to hurt but to scare them was the hope. Damn things hated loud noises right and that shit was LOUD. Loud enough Erryk half regretted not stepping further out if only for how loud it was being mostly still inside the truck. Another growl and Erryk fired once more. Yup that one hurt his damn ear drums but the shadows were at least moving off into the snow. Fuck ok it was definitely time to turn the truck on again for a bit soon his fingers fucking hurt and he was definitely debating getting out to check the side of the truck and make sure they hadn't destroyed too much.
"Yeah just a couple black bears... Think they're gone" He finally told Sebastian as he moved to sit back shutting the door and moving to turn and crawl for the driver’s seat again fighting now to practically shake now from how fucking cold it was.
Sebastian jumped and covered his ears. He should have expected it to be that loud; he'd used to shoot, too.
When Erryk came back in and spoke, Sebastian nodded. If Erryk had managed to kill one, Sebastian would have suggested skinning it. Bear fur was known to be warm. He watched Erryk, half tempted to ask him to come back to "bed" as he missed the warmth.
Turning the key in the ignition Erryk immediately tensed as he heard the truck struggling only.... Nothing. No! No no no! Moving to turn the key again as he fought to keep his hand from shaking the engine again didn't seem to want to remotely want to come on. "Son of a bitch.... " Erryk whined out loud. After a moments pause he moved to pull his shoes on that were under the seat then reached for the flashlight and was soon hoping out as is. Which he almost immediately regretted but shutting the door he merely managed to ignore the cold air and snowflakes blowing about as he moved around for the front of the vehicle.
Okay, that was a lot of excursions Erryk had taken. Sebastian frowned and got out of the car too.
"Can I help?" he asked.
Comments
Post a Comment